MANILA -- Senator Risa Hontiveros called on e-wallet and super app companies to self-regulate amid criticisms on how accessible their platforms are to online gambling. 

“With so many complaints pointing to how phones have made online gambling too easy to access, why are e-wallet and super app companies silent? I hope that they would also take steps to self-regulate. Too many lives have been ruined and could be ruined by online gambling. Too many families have already been hurt,” Hontiveros said in a statement Monday. 

She said her office has received several messages asking for help after their loved ones became addicted, buried in debt, and committed suicide due to online gambling. 

Hontiveros has previously filed her “Kontra E-Sugal Act,” which seeks to ban access of online gambling sites to e-wallets and super apps to aid laws that are supposedly being left behind by technological growth. 

A Super app was defined in the bill as “a mobile or web application that combines multiple services into a single platform, often referred to as a multi-service platform that consolidates various functionalities, including but not limited to messaging, e-commerce, financial services, transportation, delivery, or more.”  

Hontiveros added, “If big casinos say they are following regulations, that’s well and good. That means there should be no issue if we tighten access to online gambling.”

Senator JV Ejercito said e-wallets have become a conduit to e-gambling. 

“Ang e-sabong noon, nag-evolve na bilang online gambling ngayon. At ang kasabwat? Mga e-wallet na naging tulay sa pagsusugal at pagkabaon sa utang ng mga Pilipino,” Ejercito said in a statement. 

“Ang e-wallet ay ginawa para padaliin ang buhay ng mga Pilipino, hindi para maging enablers ng sugal at utang—dalawang bagay na sumisira sa mga pamilya at kinabukasan. Hindi dapat pinapayagan na gatasan pa ang kahinaan ng ilan nating kababayan,” he continued. 

He called on the government to intervene. 

“Once a financial tool begins enabling addiction, it is the government’s duty to intervene. To strictly regulate and stop them from further fueling this gambling culture,” Ejercito said.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, meanwhile, also welcomed the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' announcement that it is drafting a circular meant to protect users of digital platforms from risks associated with online gambling.

“Daily caps, time limits, and biometric verification can help curb the alarming rise of gambling addiction, especially among the youth," Gatchalian said. 

Gatchalian added that he is also calling for key safeguards such as the Anti-Money Laundering Council registration of operators.